Don’t let the seeds fool you – sometimes one team just has the number of another.
Third-seeded Minisink Valley dispatched top seed Valley Central for the third time this season, posting a 7-6 victory in the Section 9 Class AA softball title game at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh on Saturday, May 30. The Warriors beat the Vikings twice during the regular season as members of the Orange County league Division II.
The Warriors move on to the state quarterfinals on Friday, June 5, at Monroe-Woodbury High School, at 6 p.m. against the champs from Section 1.
When Valley Central looks back, the Vikings will see a pair of glowing stats: 10 runners left on base (six on second and third), with a 3-for-16 effort at the plate with runners in scoring position).
The clubs were tied at 4 through four innings. Minisink pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the fifth and valuable insurance run in the sixth. Valley Central plated two in the sixth to pull within 7-6 but stranded the tying run at first in the seventh.
Seven Minisink batters posted at least one hit. It was No. 6 hitter Kiera Barry who started the go-ahead rally with a single to left field. Tyler Hannigan laid down a bunt to the left side that was thrown away by the third baseman. Barry would score on a wild pitch for the 5-4 lead and am Emily Smith sacrifice bunt plated Hannigan. An inning later, Hannah Ringus lined a single through the left side, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Brooke Dragone and scored on a two-out, dunked single into right by Barry.
The Vikings fought back in the sixth. Adrianna Ferraro’s third hit of the day was a lined single up the middle and she stole two bases. Mackenzie Hinspeter drew a one-out walk and stole second. Cleanup hitter Emily Smit drove a 1-2 offering up the middle for a two-run single but was tagged out in an ensuing rundown.
Needing a run to tie, Samantha Hall led off the seventh with a single but was thrown out at second on a bunt attempt by McKenzie Rodriguez. Hurler Emily Smith prompted two fly outs to left to end the contest.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Softball – Minisink sweeps Valley Central, claims Section 9 AA crown
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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